Douglas Alexander: “I wish to respond to the majority leader's comments, if I may. I, as a great many Americans, am going to be watching the…”

“I wish to respond to the majority leader's comments, if I may. I, as a great many Americans, am going to be watching the Connecticut-Tennessee basketball game tonight at 8:30 eastern time. Connecticut has a wonderful tradition, a terrific coach, and great players. They have won the last couple of years. But the Naismith Coach of the Year this year is Pat Summitt. For those of us in Tennessee, she is the coach of the year every year. Senator Frist has mentioned her achievements as a coach, which I think we must take for granted in Tennessee. We expect Pat Summitt to be in the Final Four. We expect her team to be in the finals. We expect her often to win, and we sometimes forget how hard that is. Twenty-five years ago, it might have been easy when women's basketball was starting. Today, there is a lot of parity. There are a good many great coaches. There are many teams inspired by Pat Summitt. It is an enormous accomplishment for Coach Summitt to have this team in the finals once again. One day, when she is finished--and I hope that is no time soon--I will look back and say how could that have happened, and how much could one woman build this game and make such a difference? She does one other thing that I think is important to hear. This is a time when we hear about athletes, which we wish we hadn't heard, young men and women suddenly exposed to fame, money, and television with bad results. You do not hear about many of Pat Summit's young women.…”